Gates filling final five

Nick Gates will have a top five in place by the end of the month. That's the plan, anyway. His list of 16 scholarship offers will narrow. Some programs will be encouraged by the announcement. Others will be eliminated. It's a standard operation, really.

The Las Vegas Bishop Gorman tackle plans to identify five school, visit them and pick a college. There's nothing unique about his process. It's cut and dry. Coaching staff and fans alike will find out where their teams stand in time.

"I know for sure I want to take officials to Nebraska and Alabama," Gates said on Tuesday. "Those two for sure. I'm talking on the regular and all that still, and I know I want to visit both."

So it seems the Tide and Huskers have slipped into the five-team finalist circle already. It's not as though it's some kind of surprise. Gates has been high on each for some time. The reasons are the same ones he's been giving for months.

"I just like the facilities and the coaches at Nebraska," Gates said. "I got to work with the coaches at this camp, and they got to teach me. I liked working with me. They're good coaches. I like the way they run their offense."

When it comes to the Crimson Tide, Gates doesn't have as much to say. The reasons for Alabama's standing as an official visit destination are simple. Gates doesn't even feel the need to elaborate.

"It's just Bama," he said. "They're the No. 1 team in the nation. There's not much else to say."

When it comes time for Gates to slot his three final official visits, he won't have a shortage of options to chose from. It may be worth nothing, but the first three programs to reach out during the contact period were Oregon, Arizona and Arizona State.

And while he says the timing of the calls won't make an enormous impact on his decision, one of the conversation that took place just might.

"Arizona seems like the most likely to let me play baseball, too," Gates said. "They talked to the baseball coach and said we're going to talk more about if we go down there. I'd like to play baseball and football."

Between football, academic obligations and the process of narrowing his list of options, Gates' next month will be a gauntlet of sorts. He's doing himself no favors on that front. The timetable he's set for himself is aggressive.

"I have to take my SAT first," Gates said. "I'm going to take it at the end of September, then I'll probably start planning the officials. I'll probably know my top five in a month or a month and a half. II have to go and see how the school feels before I decide anything."